Microsoft promises ‘unlimited free hard drive space’ via Xbox One’s extensive cloud network

Microsoft has had a less-than-stellar track record with the Xbox One so far: with somewhat fumbling PR and a host of unpopular features and policies, the Xbox One’s reveal didn’t go over so well in the gaming sphere.

Now Microsoft is aiming to change that by pushing a variety of newly announced features and content in order to redeem the console’s overall public image, and their most recent attempts have proven successful.

At this year’s PAX Australia, Microsoft unveiled some pretty impressive features for their next-gen Xbox One. First off, the Redmond-based gaming giant announced that gamers will be able to use the next-gen system to create and self-publish their own indie games–a move that was well received by many indie enthusiasts.

Now Microsoft offers something that every gamer can appreciate–more HDD capacity. 500 gigs isn’t by any means a smallish figure, but when gamers are downloading HD videos and huge next-gen gaming content via Xbox LIVE, that hard drive may be full before you know it.

To solve this, Microsoft has promised gamers the Xbox One will have “unlimited” drive space via the console’s extensive cloud network, and that it won’t cost users a dime.

According to a PR spokesperson from Microsoft, the cloud storage feature will be offered to allXbox LIVE subscribers and won’t be restricted to just Xbox LIVE Gold members–which is quite surprising, given the perks offered by the premium subscription.

Xbox Live offers Xbox One unlimited storage space in the cloud for all Xbox Live members to store numerous types of Xbox Live content, including your profile, games, Achievements and entertainment.

This content is stored and saved in the cloud so you can automatically access it anywhere, anytime, no matter where you are.

While Microsoft has touted their cloud network since the Xbox One was formally announced, we haven’t had very much clear-cut information regarding the specifics of the cloud. This new announcement may be enough to win a percentage of gamers who are still on the fence about which next-gen console is right for them, and it will be interesting to see if Sony counters with their own focus on cloud storage.

The PlayStation 4‘s cloud network, Gaikai, will be optimized for Sony’s PlayStation Store offering and may feature a variety of classics from the previous PlayStation consoles all the way back to the PS1. While Sony’s cloud-based service will offer a ton of content from a smattering of providers, we may not see unlimited hard drive space.

Even so the PS4 remains the dominant choice, and we’ll likely see the console war heat up in the coming months with Gamescom and this year’s Tokyo Game Show around the corner.

Via Examiner